How to Increase FPS in ARK Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved is an extremely popular game, one that started as an Early Access endeavor (one of the earliest notable ones too) and has since grown into a franchise. While ARK 2 has the budget for a Vin Diesel appearance, the first game is still infamous for its performance difficulties. So much so that the community has found an interesting way to increase the FPS by way of editing local files.

ARK Survival Evolved FPS Guide

In order to do this, you’ll be messing around with .ini files in ARK’s installation directory. So keep that in mind, and proceed at your own risk. It’s probably a good idea to make backups of the files you’re poking around at, but also make sure you know how to verify files in Steam. That’s generally the easiest way to restore a game to its official state.

Related: Best Way to Level Up Fast in ARK: Survival Evolved

So your first step is to navigate to the following folder, first by right-clicking ARK in your library, clicking “Manage,” then “Browse Local Files.”

\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\

There are two files we’re interested in. Those files are named “Engine.ini” and “GameUserSettings.ini.” You want to open them with Notepad or a similar basic text editor in order to edit them. Now, you’ll be replacing everything written in those files with a new list of directions for ARK. Make sure all the original text has been fully replaced.

For Engine.ini, use this:

[/script/engine.renderersettings]
r.DefaultFeature.Bloom=False
r.DefaultFeature.AmbientOcclusion=False
r.DefaultFeature.AutoExposure=False
r.DefaultFeature.MotionBlur=False
r.DefaultFeature.LensFlare=False
r.EarlyZPass=0
r.SSAOSmartBlur=0
r.HZBOcclusion=0
r.AmbientOcclusionLevels=0
r.BloomQuality=0
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0
r.SSR.Quality=0
r.SSS.Scale=0
r.SSS.SampleSet=0
r.DetailMode=0
r.LensFlareQuality=0
r.MaxAnisotropy=0
r.oneframethreadlag=1
r.LightShaftQuality=0
r.RefractionQuality=0
r.ExposureOffset=0.3
r.ReflectionEnvironment=0
r.Atmosphere=0
r.Shadow.MaxResolution=2
r.SimpleDynamicLighting=1
r.UpsampleQuality=0
r.ViewDistanceScale=0.4
r.TrueSkyQuality=0

[/script/shootergame.shooterengine]
bFirstRun=False
FrameRateCap=200
FrameRateMinimum=200

[Core.System]
Paths=../../../Engine/Content
Paths=../../../ShooterGame/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/CharacterAI/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/TrueSkyPlugin/Content

[SystemSettings]
TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Cinematic=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=linear,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_EffectsNotFiltered=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Lightmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=8,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Shadowmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point,NumStreamedMips=3)
TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_MobileFlattened=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Terrain_Heightmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Terrain_Weightmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)

[Oculus.Settings]
bChromaAbCorrectionEnabled=True
bYawDriftCorrectionEnabled=True
bDevSettingsEnabled=False
bOverrideIPD=False
bOverrideStereo=False
bOverrideVSync=True
VSync=True
bOverrideScreenPercentage=False
bAllowFinishCurrentFrame=True
bLowPersistenceMode=True
bUpdateOnRT=False
FarClippingPlane=0.000000
NearClippingPlane=0.000000

[WindowsApplication.Accessibility]
StickyKeysHotkey=False
ToggleKeysHotkey=False
FilterKeysHotkey=False
StickyKeysConfirmation=False
ToggleKeysConfirmation=False
FilterKeysConfirmation=False

And for GameUserSettings.ini use this:

[/script/shootergame.shootergameusersettings]

MasterAudioVolume=0.107143

MusicAudioVolume=0.039683

SFXAudioVolume=0.409387

CameraShakeScale=0.037899

bFirstPersonRiding=False

bThirdPersonPlayer=False

bShowStatusNotificationMessages=True

TrueSkyQuality=0.000000

FOVMultiplier=1.250000

GroundClutterDensity=0.000000

bFilmGrain=False

bMotionBlur=False

bUseDFAO=False

bUseSSAO=False

bShowChatBox=False

bCameraViewBob=False

bInvertLookY=False

bFloatingNames=True

bChatBubbles=True

bJoinNotifications=False

bCraftablesShowAllItems=True

LookLeftRightSensitivity=1.000000

LookUpDownSensitivity=1.000000

GraphicsQuality=4

ActiveLingeringWorldTiles=10

bUseVSync=False

ResolutionSizeX=1920

ResolutionSizeY=1080

LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeX=1920

LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeY=1080

WindowPosX=-1

WindowPosY=-1

bUseDesktopResolutionForFullscreen=False

FullscreenMode=0

LastConfirmedFullscreenMode=1

Version=5

bHideServerInfo=False

LastServerSearchType=2

LastServerSearchHideFull=False

LastServerSearchProtected=False

HideItemTextOverlay=False

bDistanceFieldShadowing=False

LODScalar=0.000000

HighQualityMaterials=False

HighQualitySurfaces=False

bTemperatureF=False

bDisableTorporEffect=True

[ScalabilityGroups]
sg.ResolutionQuality=100
sg.ViewDistanceQuality=2
sg.AntiAliasingQuality=0
sg.ShadowQuality=2
sg.PostProcessQuality=2
sg.TextureQuality=2
sg.EffectsQuality=0
sg.TrueSkyQuality=0
sg.GroundClutterQuality=0
sg.IBLQuality=0
sg.HeightFieldShadowQuality=2

[SessionSettings]
SessionName=ARK #563569

[/script/engine.gamesession]
MaxPlayers=70

[AdminPassword]
Password=
ServerPassword=

Make sure to save both of these files once you drop the new text in. Now, your mileage may vary based on your PC’s specs of course. But most folks seem to be reporting anywhere from a 10 to 20 FPS bump after doing this.

And if you’re still having performance issues, you’ll have to go into ARK’s in-game options and tweak the visual settings. Most recommend turning the Sky Quality option down first, and unticking check boxes to the right of the visual settings. If you don’t care as much about fidelity, you can turn those visual settings down as well to see what happens.

Ultimately, the lower in power your device is, the more of an uphill battle this will be. Good luck!